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Freeview Play gains four new brands

The subscription-free TV, catch-up service will launch on Blaupunkt, Hisense, Sharp Aquos and Toshiba devices in the coming months.

These will join other brands, including Panasonic, Humax, LG and JVC, that have previously launched Freeview Play TVs and set-top boxes.

Freeview said this now placed it as “the most widely-adopted service for catch-up TV in the UK”.

Freeview managing director Guy North said: “I’m delighted to welcome Blaupunkt, Hisense, Sharp and Toshiba to the Freeview Play platform. With these new manufacturers on board, Freeview Play has become the most-widely adopted catch-up TV platform in the UK, which is no mean feat in just over a year.

“Freeview Play now has the content, functionality and distribution to really deliver scale in the TV market, meaning we are well on our way to achieving our ambition of making connected viewing accessible and affordable for everyone.”

Hisense UK deputy managing director Howard Grindrod said: “Having the Freeview Play platform on our TVs is a significant step forward in the development of our UK business. Hisense is a world brand and we consider Freeview Play a major factor in the UK market, providing our customers with exceptional functionality that complements perfectly our product design and specification.”

Digital UK chief executive Jonathan Thompson said: “Our ambition is to take Freeview from ‘what comes with your telly’ to an active choice for a broad range of viewers. The market for Freeview Play is very big. From the core Freeview constituency of 10 million homes, to those currently paying a monthly subscription who are looking for a better deal.”